Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-07-22
Death in a Swamp.

Death in a Swamp.
Correspondence Of Pittsburg Dispatch.l
"You may talk Of strange things
said Mr.. Crompton, a gentleman who
has lived in Southern Georgia, neal
the Florida line, not fur from Okefino
kee Swamp (trembling earth), for a
long time; "but the most horrible
sight that / ever beheld was one
which greeted my eyes on the occas.
ion of an alligator hunt way back in
the sos, not long after l had moved
to this part of the country.
"Okefnokee Swamp is very large
tract, or waste, which extends over a
large part OF Southern Georgia and
part Of Florida. The swamp is i'm
passable in great many places and
is very dangeroug to adventurers, be-
ing interspersed here and there with
treacherous holes, which show moth
ing on the surface except what ap-
pears to the inexperienced eye tract
of mud and water not more than a
foot deep. The unlucky explorer
who tries to wade through such
places finds, however, that they are
often 20 and 80 feet deep and so mar
row that they are more like big wells,
making escape impossible after hav-
ing once gotten into one of these fatal
traps. The swamp abounds in alliga-
tors, and / was one of party bent
upon an alligator hunt one day in the
early spring OF 1858. From the na-
ture of the swamp it is possible to
row boat q great many places for
several miles without coming upon
any Instructions, but in other places
it is simple impossible to 60 other
wise than on foot, picking your way
as best you can in the marshy low
lands. On the occasion referred to
we went as far as we could in our
boat, getting out at point not far
from the Florida line, and continuing
on foot
"There were four in the party, o
negro to row the boat. an English
man named Dutton, and friend OF
his who had only arrived day or
two before. Dutton was a whole
souled fellow, generous to a fault,
and splendid marksman. We had
been on many hunts together, and in
many tight places, and his perfect
self-possession in cases of emergency
impressed me with feeling of re-
spect for him. In order to kill an al
ligator with rifle it is necessary to
pierce its eyes, as its scales render
the balance of it's body bullet-proof,
and / never saw Dutton miss but
once in our daily hunting.
"When we landed and proceeded
on foot, Dutton, as was usual, went
in front, his friend near him, then
came the old darkey, and | brought
Up the rear We had not gone more
than two miles before the swamp be-
came rough and dense, and it was
getting late in the evening, we called
halt and decided to return to our
boat before the night caugh us in the
swamp. We were all ready to go ex-
cept Dutton, who had gone some dis
tance ahead and was not in sight. |
told the old negro to go and tell him
to return, and he had just started in
obedience to my command when the
blood in my veins was chilled by an
awful shrek for help.
If | live for 100 years | shall
never forget that cry. 1t seemed to
come from the direction to the right
of us, direction none of us had
taken, and which Dutton could only
have followed by turning directly
away from the line we had mapped
out ON starting. AS the last note OF
the cry died away. looked at the
old darkey who had started to do my
bidding, but he seemed paraly zed
and became so weak that he could
hardly stand. The only words l
could hear from his half open lips, as
| ran past him in the direction
whence the sound car o, were "its no
use ter 60 after him masser; it's no
use," Dutton's friend followed me
quickly and we hau not gone more
than 100 yards when such a sight
met my eyes that l would rather un-
dergo death than to encounter it again.
In an open space in front of me was
what appeared to be marshy stretch
of perhaps 10 yards square. 1t look
ed as though it's bottom was right on
the surface of the earth, and ] would
have attempted to wade across it
without any hesitation except for
what greeted my frightened gaze. In
the midst Of this sink was Dutton,
struggling as if with some invisible
power that was dragging him down.
ward. 1t was only an instant until /
discerned what was dragging my
friend beneath the surface of this hole
Of slum and filth Around his body,
coiled in sickening masses, were rep.
tiles of every description with which
Okefnokee Swamp abounds, and bis
cries for help were piteous. When
we first snw him he was at the edge
of the hole, but by the time we had
reached the scene the reptiles had
pulled him, struggling as he was, into
| the centre, and to reach him without
the assistance of pole was impossi
BILE. / looked around me, but could
not see anything that L could possi
bly, reach out to the drowning man
The space for 100 yards was as clear
as could be. 1t was growing darL
and every moment Dutton was being
drawn lower into the bottemless pit